Of interest to Cubs collectors from these packs is the card below, which is card #19 in the base set and features Starlin Castro. Kind of a blah design and a lame photo (since Panini isn't licensed). But I still wanted to document it.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
2011 Panini Black Friday Starlin Castro
Panini recently had a special promotion for Black Friday where you could receive an unopened pack of cards if you opened Panini packs at their licensed dealer's shops. These packs featured a 20 card base set featuring players from all four major sports. Along with the base cards, a variety of cool inserts were available as well (unfortunately, the inserts were almost all non-baseball). The promotion seemed to go very well for Panini and generated a ton of buzz for them. The unopened packs from this promotion are selling in the $10 range at this point, which is unbelievable.
Of interest to Cubs collectors from these packs is the card below, which is card #19 in the base set and features Starlin Castro. Kind of a blah design and a lame photo (since Panini isn't licensed). But I still wanted to document it.
Of interest to Cubs collectors from these packs is the card below, which is card #19 in the base set and features Starlin Castro. Kind of a blah design and a lame photo (since Panini isn't licensed). But I still wanted to document it.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Topps Tier One
2011 Topps Tier One
This is a new offering on the baseball side from Topps, and it takes the place of Topps Sterling in their lineup. On the positive side, the checklist for this product is far less convoluted and much easier to understand than Topps Sterling. On the negative side? Most other things. I'm just not seeing much that is really good in this product. It isn't terrible, but it just seems like a very mediocre offering taking the place of a pretty good one.
The base set cards here are on thick stock and feature a relatively clean design. I think the design is pretty plain, but not ugly. They do have an effect that I'm not in love with on any card design, that being that the photo kind of fades into the border instead of having a clean split between photo and border. In this case, I actually think it hurts the design a lot. I think the design would look a lot better with normal square borders.
None of the insert sets excite me that much either. A few of the sets have decent designs (relics, On the Rise autos), but nothing special. A few are not very attractive (Crowd Pleasers autos). And the Jumbo patch cards obviously have great patches in some cases, but offer nothing from a design standpoint. Blah, blah, blah.
The player selection doesn't do much for me here either. Castro, Sandberg, and Dawson represent the Cubs in the base set, with a smattering of lesser stars making appearances among the inserts. The only thing new or interesting in my eyes are the jumbo patch cards of Carlos Marmol, which would have to rank among his best cards.
The breakdown of everything from this issue is below.
Base Set - 5 Versions - Base (#/799), Blue (#/199), Black (#/50), Purple (#/25), Gold (1/1)
#12 Starlin Castro
#46 Ryne Sandberg
#68 Andre Dawson
Top Shelf Relics - 3 Versions - Single (#/399), Double (#/99), Triple (#/25)
#TSR-12 Aramis Ramirez Jersey
#TSR-46 Ryne Sandberg Bat (available via redemption only)
On the Rise Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/25)
#SC Starlin Castro #/99
#TC Tyler Colvin #/999
Crowd Pleasers Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/25)
#AR Aramis Ramirez #/50
#FJ Fergie Jenkins #/50
#MG Matt Garza #/75
#RS Ryne Sandberg #/50
Tier One Dual Autos (#/25)
#CG Starlin Castro & Dee Gordon
Tier One Triple Autos (#/10) - No Cubs Included
Top Tier Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (Varied Numbering)
No Cubs Included
Prodigious Patches (#/10)
#PP-6 Carlos Marmol
#PP-14 Fergie Jenkins
Tier One Cuts Autos (all 1/1) - No Cubs Included
This is a new offering on the baseball side from Topps, and it takes the place of Topps Sterling in their lineup. On the positive side, the checklist for this product is far less convoluted and much easier to understand than Topps Sterling. On the negative side? Most other things. I'm just not seeing much that is really good in this product. It isn't terrible, but it just seems like a very mediocre offering taking the place of a pretty good one.
The base set cards here are on thick stock and feature a relatively clean design. I think the design is pretty plain, but not ugly. They do have an effect that I'm not in love with on any card design, that being that the photo kind of fades into the border instead of having a clean split between photo and border. In this case, I actually think it hurts the design a lot. I think the design would look a lot better with normal square borders.
None of the insert sets excite me that much either. A few of the sets have decent designs (relics, On the Rise autos), but nothing special. A few are not very attractive (Crowd Pleasers autos). And the Jumbo patch cards obviously have great patches in some cases, but offer nothing from a design standpoint. Blah, blah, blah.
The player selection doesn't do much for me here either. Castro, Sandberg, and Dawson represent the Cubs in the base set, with a smattering of lesser stars making appearances among the inserts. The only thing new or interesting in my eyes are the jumbo patch cards of Carlos Marmol, which would have to rank among his best cards.
The breakdown of everything from this issue is below.
Base Set - 5 Versions - Base (#/799), Blue (#/199), Black (#/50), Purple (#/25), Gold (1/1)
#12 Starlin Castro
#46 Ryne Sandberg
#68 Andre Dawson
Top Shelf Relics - 3 Versions - Single (#/399), Double (#/99), Triple (#/25)
#TSR-12 Aramis Ramirez Jersey
#TSR-46 Ryne Sandberg Bat (available via redemption only)
On the Rise Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/25)
#SC Starlin Castro #/99
#TC Tyler Colvin #/999
Crowd Pleasers Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (#/25)
#AR Aramis Ramirez #/50
#FJ Fergie Jenkins #/50
#MG Matt Garza #/75
#RS Ryne Sandberg #/50
Tier One Dual Autos (#/25)
#CG Starlin Castro & Dee Gordon
Tier One Triple Autos (#/10) - No Cubs Included
Top Tier Autos - 2 Versions - Base (Varied Numbering), Gold (Varied Numbering)
No Cubs Included
Prodigious Patches (#/10)
#PP-6 Carlos Marmol
#PP-14 Fergie Jenkins
Tier One Cuts Autos (all 1/1) - No Cubs Included
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Cubs Breakdown - 2011 Leaf Valiant
2011 Leaf Valiant
This is Leaf's second prospect product of the year, and it features the exact same players as the first set did. The theme of this product is that Leaf has tried to reproduce the technology that the 1998 Donruss Crusade cards were printed on. That 1998 set is generally regarded as one of the best looking sets of all time, and it is very widely collected.
So how did Leaf do in their attempt to recreate the look and feel? I would say they got it about 85% right. The look and feel is not quite as crisp or as shiny as those Crusade cards, so these cards just don't look quite as good. But they are at least in the ballpark, and I do love the fact that Leaf tried this and at least came close to pulling it off. So big time kudos to Leaf for a great idea and for all the hard work that went into these.
As I said before, this has the same checklist as Leaf Metal Draft. So I am still a little disappointed by the thin selection of Cubs. But I still grabbed a Lee and Baez first chance I got.
Base Set - 7 Versions (All are Autos) - Base Green, Blue (#/99), Orange (#/25), Purple (#/25, available in Leaf Rookie Retro packs), Black (#/5), Red (1/1), Player Issue (Non Auto), plus four colors of printing plates
#HL1 Hak-Ju Lee
#JB2 Javier Baez
This is Leaf's second prospect product of the year, and it features the exact same players as the first set did. The theme of this product is that Leaf has tried to reproduce the technology that the 1998 Donruss Crusade cards were printed on. That 1998 set is generally regarded as one of the best looking sets of all time, and it is very widely collected.
So how did Leaf do in their attempt to recreate the look and feel? I would say they got it about 85% right. The look and feel is not quite as crisp or as shiny as those Crusade cards, so these cards just don't look quite as good. But they are at least in the ballpark, and I do love the fact that Leaf tried this and at least came close to pulling it off. So big time kudos to Leaf for a great idea and for all the hard work that went into these.
As I said before, this has the same checklist as Leaf Metal Draft. So I am still a little disappointed by the thin selection of Cubs. But I still grabbed a Lee and Baez first chance I got.
Base Set - 7 Versions (All are Autos) - Base Green, Blue (#/99), Orange (#/25), Purple (#/25, available in Leaf Rookie Retro packs), Black (#/5), Red (1/1), Player Issue (Non Auto), plus four colors of printing plates
#HL1 Hak-Ju Lee
#JB2 Javier Baez
Friday, November 4, 2011
2011 Minor League Extras
I really love minor league cards, and I really look forward to these 'extra' types of sets each year. First off, you never really know what is going to come out with these sets. We got a relative plethora of sets this year, with all of our minor league teams represented except for the Rookie League Boise club, and the Iowa Cubs and Peoria Chiefs have two different sets for their leagues. I also like the fact that these types of sets often feature relatively attractive or offbeat designs. I have to say that I don't think any of the designs from this year are awesome, but the Midwest League All Stars set is probably the best of the lot. Ironically, the Southern League All Stars have a very similar design, but those aren't very attractive because they have a green lower border and all of the cards feature photos with a lot of green grass in them (which almost makes the border disappear on a lot of the cards).
Below is a rundown of the Cubs from these types of sets for 2011.
2011 Multi-Ad Pacific Coast League All Stars
#2 Bryan LaHair
#12 John Gaub
#14 Welington Castillo
2011 Multi-Ad Pacific Coast League Top Prospects
#11 Chris Carpenter
#12 Welington Castillo
2011 Grandstand Southern League All Stars
Cards are not numbered
Steven Clevenger
Rafael Dolis
Ryan Flaherty
Marwin Gonzalez
Brett Jackson
Blake Lalli
Rebel Ridling
Matthews Spencer
2011 Grandstand Florida State League Top Prospects
Cards are not numbered
Matt Cerda
Jae-Hoon Ha
2011 Grandstand Midwest League All Stars
Cards are not numbered
Micah Gibbs
Richard Jones
Austin Kirk
Pierre LePage
Greg Rohan
Matt Szczcur
2011 Grandstand Midwest League Top Prospects
Cards are not numbered
Hayden Simpson
Matt Szczcur
Below is a rundown of the Cubs from these types of sets for 2011.
2011 Multi-Ad Pacific Coast League All Stars
#2 Bryan LaHair
#12 John Gaub
#14 Welington Castillo
2011 Multi-Ad Pacific Coast League Top Prospects
#11 Chris Carpenter
#12 Welington Castillo
2011 Grandstand Southern League All Stars
Cards are not numbered
Steven Clevenger
Rafael Dolis
Ryan Flaherty
Marwin Gonzalez
Brett Jackson
Blake Lalli
Rebel Ridling
Matthews Spencer
2011 Grandstand Florida State League Top Prospects
Cards are not numbered
Matt Cerda
Jae-Hoon Ha
2011 Grandstand Midwest League All Stars
Cards are not numbered
Micah Gibbs
Richard Jones
Austin Kirk
Pierre LePage
Greg Rohan
Matt Szczcur
2011 Grandstand Midwest League Top Prospects
Cards are not numbered
Hayden Simpson
Matt Szczcur
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